Page 33 of Where the Darkness Goes

When I reach the door where the girls are sleeping, double-checking that it’s not the door to the guest room where Brendan stayed, I drop my hands to my sides, shaking them out with a long, slow breath.

Here goes fucking…everything.

I knock softly before whispering her name. “Tessa?”

When she doesn’t answer, I pull my phone out of my pocket and send her a text.

Can we talk?

Inside the room, her phone chimes, but I get no response. Maybe she’s asleep, apparently much more at peace with this whole situation than I am.

Carefully, I ease the door open. “Tessa?”

As my eyes adjust, I can see their bed, but my heart plummets when I realize neither girl is in it. The comforter is thrown aside, and both pillows still have indentations from their heads, but they are nowhere to be found. I step farther into theroom, spinning to look behind me. Their phones are charging with cords against the wall, but they’re just…gone.

What if she’s in Brendan’s room? It doesn’t answer where Britney is, but?—

I dart out into the hall, seeing red as I move in a haze. When I spot a door down the hallway to my left. I freeze.

What the…

Moonlight shines in through the storm door from outside the back doorway of the house. I step closer. It’s standing wide open, and it definitely wasn’t before.

I would’ve noticed.

The images of Amber Allen’s memorial flash into my head, her photo suddenly replaced with Tessa’s face. Without a single thought, I race out the door, shoeless and shirtless, in a rush to get to her.

The night is quiet, the air cold and foggy. It’s a perfect night for whatever horror movie I’m apparently about to live out.

Where did you go?I scan the surroundings, making my way across the wooden deck and down the stairs. My socks are soaking wet and muddy as I stomp down the yard. Britney’s car is still here, parked in front of Brendan’s, which is in front of ours.

So they either didn’t leave, or they didn’t leave alone.

I’m about to dash back inside and get Will’s help when a sound shoots through the air. I freeze, every hair on my body standing at attention.

I hold my breath, trying to listen.

Several seconds pass before I hear it again, but when I do, it’s unmistakable. The sound of Tessa’s laugh sends warmth through my veins, and I rush toward it.

She’s okay.

She’s okay.

She’s…naked?

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I demand, sounding more like my father than I ever have as I stalk toward the lake. The shore is covered in clothes, discarded here and there haphazardly, and Tessa and Britney are swimming in the murky water, apparently naked.

Both girls squeal and cover themselves, though I can’t see anything except bare shoulders.

“What areyoudoing?” Tessa whisper-screams. “Go back inside.”

“Like hell. Do you have any idea what time it is? It’s not safe. The town has a curfew for a reason.”

“There’s no one out here,” Britney says. “Relax,Dad.”

“There’s a murderer running around our town, and you guys are out here skinning dipping on a dark and foggy night. Have you two seen, like, any horror movie ever?” I wave a hand toward the house. “Why didn’t you tell us you were sneaking out of the house, so we could’ve at least kept an eye on things?”

“Because you would’ve spied on us or tried to join us, and we didn’t want either,” Tessa says. “We’re fine.”

---